Summary

It was only a matter of time before Legacy found its way into Deck of the Day, and today we have a Legacy deck that didn’t exist before Oath of the Gatewatch. That’s right, the Eldrazi menace has found its way into Legacy! This variation, piloted by D00mwake on MtGO on January 10, combines the usual powerful suite of Eldrazi and some of Death & Taxes’ most powerful creatures. At its core, this deck falls into the Chalice of the Void section of the Legacy format. In general, those decks try to play a turn 1 Chalice of the Void to disrupt what much of the format is trying to accomplish. In further turns, the deck plays creatures that further disrupt the opponent or end the game quickly. This Legacy Eldrazi deck is no different. For this deck, instead of choosing between more disruption past Chalice of the Void or efficient beaters, it has both. The further disruption come in the form of Thought-Knot Seer, Phyrexian Revoker, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and Thalia, Heretic Cathar. Reality Smasher and, to an extent, Eldrazi Displacer, provide the beatdown that ends the game quickly.

This deck doesn’t have the prison-style inevitability of Death & Taxes or MUD, so it has to gain a firm hold on the game by turn 3 or 4. 26 lands may seem like a lot for a Legacy deck, especially one that plays 4 Mox Diamond, but it’s critical that this deck hits its first few land drops for it to function. After sideboarding, the deck becomes a lot more flexible, with a Stoneforge Mystic package available, as well as the full playset of Swords to Plowshares for the creature-based decks of the format. It also has the full set of Leyline of the Void for Dredge, which is a very popular deck on MtGO. However, in this column we’re focusing more on non-digital Magic, so the copies Leyline of the Void aren’t necessary, and I would recommend Rest in Peace in its place.

Much of the format is weak to Chalice of the Void on 1 counter, so it’s important that this deck draws Chalice of the Void in those matchups. Storm, Delver, and Elves all struggle against Chalice of the Void, but can steamroll this deck if the powerful artifact does not appear. Where this deck really shines is against matchups like Jund or Miracles, where their removal spells match up very poorly against Legacy Eldrazi’s creatures.

This deck is a lot of fun to play, and I highly recommend it for anyone who is looking to get into Legacy, but doesn’t feel comfortable learning the ins and outs of a very complex deck, yet. Here are the changes I would make going forward: